Mexico 2-0 South Africa: Cesar Montes red card leaves Javier Aguirre searching for centre-back answers against South Korea

Mexico's 2-0 win over South Africa to open the 2026 World Cup finals was no less than Javier Aguirre's side deserved.

El Tri dominated from start to finish, with the co-hosts outshooting Bafana Bafana 16-3, two of those efforts falling into the big-chance category.

After being denied early on, Raul Jimenez finally doubled Mexico's lead just after the hour mark, nearly an hour after Julian Quinones had opened the scoring in the ninth minute.

While the home side celebrated victory at the Azteca, Aguirre will be scratching his head after Cesar Montes was shown a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in the second minute of second-half stoppage time.

Ahead of Mexico's meeting with South Korea, Sports Mole looks at the possible replacements for the suspended centre-back.

Cesar Montes red card: How many World Cup matches will Mexico centre-back miss?

While FIFA could increase the defender's ban, the nature of his foul in preventing Khuliso Mudau's goalscoring chance suggests that the governing body will leave his one-match suspension unchanged.

As such, Montes will miss one match: Mexico's second group-stage fixture against South Korea on June 18.

Cesar Montes red card: Who could replace the suspended centre-back?

Montes's dismissal poses a selection headache for Aguirre, given the towering defender's aerial dominance at both ends of the pitch and his customary dependability.

Without his threat from attacking set-pieces and the assurance he offers when defending them in his own third, who in the squad could step in for El Tri's second World Cup fixture

Israel Reyes

Capable of playing at centre-back or full-back, Israel Reyes is perhaps the most likely option to replace Montes in central defence.

Although the Club America defender started at right-back on Thursday, Aguirre could opt to start Jorge Sanchez there to accommodate Reyes alongside Johan Vasquez at centre-back.

Erik Lira

Another solution would be to move Erik Lira away from his preferred position at the base of midfield, and a one-match appearance at centre-back would not hurt the World Cup co-hosts.

Lira's anticipation and composure out of possession were evident in Thursday's opener, as he won the ball from Siphephelo Sithole for Mexico's opening goal.
Although there may be a temptation to move him out of midfield, Aguirre is likely to keep the Cruz Azul man there.

Luis Romo

Although Romo is naturally a midfielder, the 30-year-old can fill in at centre-back, a role he performed last month when El Tri beat Ghana 2-0 in a warm-up fixture.

Edson Alvarez

The defensive midfielder operated at centre-back in Mexico's 1-0 victory over Australia at the end of last month and could be deployed there again against South Korea.

Given his height advantage over the other options, Aguirre is likely to favour the 28-year-old over Reyes, Lira and Romo.